Sanctions Imposed on the Head of Yeghvard Community by the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition

As a result of the review of the proceedings initiated based on the application of LLC Tigran Hovhannisyan, the actions of the head of the Yeghvard community were classified as anti-competitive actions by the Republic of Armenia's State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition, prompting a warning to be issued to the official, instructing the elimination of legal violations in the future.

Specifically, during the examination of the proceedings, it was noted that on November 25, 2019, LLC Tigran Hovhannisyan, engaged in the construction of public electronic networks and the provision of internet services, applied to the Yeghvard municipality to rent municipal lighting poles belonging to the community as a base for laying fiber-optic and FTP cables. However, Mayor Norair Sargsyan denied the request, citing the loading of the poles, and did not submit it to the community council for discussion.

Interestingly, after the Commission initiated the administrative proceedings, the same application submitted by LLC Tigran Hovhannisyan was presented by the community leader to the community council for discussion, which was approved by decision No. 7 on January 29, 2020. It is important to note that this decision was made under conditions where no changes regarding the loading of the poles had occurred from December 1, 2019, to January 21, 2020.

Following the analysis of the mentioned factual circumstances, the Commission concluded that the rejection of LLC Tigran Hovhannisyan's application was unfounded and restricted his opportunity to rent municipal lighting poles belonging to the community as a base for conducting entrepreneurial activities, which led to a limitation of entrepreneurial activity.

You can find the decision of the Commission at the following link.